History of the 90s

On this episode of host Kathy Kenzora looks at the story of the ultimate underdog or maybe...under cat? This is the little known story of the 1994 animated feature, The Lion King. Despite being one of Disney’s most cherished movies of all time, the Lion King was never expected to be such a massive hit. The Lion King was considered a filler movie to tide people over until Disney released Pocahontas.  Lion King was the first Disney animated movie based on a completely original story, it had a smaller budget and lesser known directors working on the film. Most of Disney’s “A-Team” animators chose to work on Pocahontas instead of Lion King because they worried a movie about a talking lion cub would be a flop.  Those that ended up working on it were so dedicated that when an earthquake shutdown Disney studios in 1994, animators worked from their homes to make sure the film was completed on time. Despite these obstacles, The Lion King was a massive hit, making nearly a billion dollars at the box office and winning several awards including two Oscars. In addition, it spawned the highest grossing Broadway production of all time and of course this year’s live action reboot with Beyoncé and Childish Gambino. The original Lion King also attracted its fair share of criticisms, including concerns that it portrayed hyenas in a negative light and some suggested it was knock off of a Japanese made American cartoon called Kimba the White Lion. Contact: Instagram: @that90spodcast Email: 1995podcast@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode Host Kathy Kenzora is looking back at how tabloid media had a feeding frenzy on the Long Island Lolita.  In May 1992, a high school senior on Long Island, New York, went to the home of her much older ex-lover and shot his wife in the face.  17 year old Amy Fisher had been having an affair with 37 year old Joey Buttafuco for 18 months and was angry that he wanted to end the relationship.  Within days, Amy was dubbed “The Long Island Lolita” and the story exploded in the media around the country. Amy and the Buttafuco’s became household names overnight and tabloid newspapers and TV shows scrambled to dig up dirt on anyone involved with the story.  This type of down and dirty pseudo-journalism was extremely common in the 90s, just think Lorena Bobbitt, Tanya Harding, Heidi Fleiss, Hugh Grant, George Michael and Peewee Herman.  David Kamp, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair Magazine, wrote about the phenomenon in 1999 and dubbed the 90s the Tabloid Decade. Kamp, explains in this episode that the coverage of tabloid stories in the 90s was weirdly out of proportion thanks in part to the popularity of tabloid TV shows like A Current Affair, Hard Copy and Inside Edition.  Show Contact: Instagram: @that90spodcast Email: 1995podcast@gmail.com Guest info: David Kamp Twitter: @MrKamp www.davidkamp.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On History of the 90’s we’ll travel back in time through the stories that defined a decade. The last 10 years of the 20th century was a time like no other, from Columbine to Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Seinfeld, Air Jordan, and the Spice Girls …if it happened in the 90’s you’ll hear about it on this podcast. Join Kathy Kenzora as we journey through the History of the 90's every other Wednesday starting July 17.For exclusive bonus content subscribe to History of the 90s Patreon page.: https://patreon.com/historyofthe90s Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices